How to Choose the Best Bowls for Your Smoothie Restaurant

Smoothies served in glass are a thing of the past. Smoothie bowls, on the other hand, have been cooking up a storm and making their way into social media feeds. With these thick blended drinks, people have countless options of toppings and ingredients. When served in bowls, smoothies appear to be more vibrant, more appetizing, and simply irresistible.

1. Why Smoothie Bowls Are Some of the Biggest Food Trends

Vegetables and fruits alone don’t seem like the most appetizing healthy choices for many people. When they’re blended, they are easily a favorite nutrition-packed option for most.

Since smoothies are rich with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they bring people a myriad of health benefits—all while tasting delicious. They are even blended with certain ingredients for managing weight and boosting energy, among others. Plus, their toppings combined with their base often yield that perfect balance of salty and sweet flavors, bringing a nutritious and filling combo that no one seems to get enough of.

Compared to the traditional way of serving smoothies, smoothie bowls are usually thicker because of their added frozen fruits or vegetables, healthy fats, protein powders, and ice. They also come with extra toppings, allowing for more creativity in preparing smoothies. Because of this, smoothies are now enjoyed like soup rather than being sipped through straws.

Add the benefits of this century-old creamy goodness to the new way of serving it in bowls, and the result is the smoothie bowl craze in the world of social media. That’s why many business owners have been riding this trend, and more and more smoothie bars and restaurants are popping up all over the globe. 

At present, blending and serving smoothies is no doubt a lucrative business. At the same time, however, the smoothies market is fast becoming an extremely competitive one. Fortunately, there’s one straightforward factor that might help your smoothie business stand out: investing in the right choice of bowls.

2. What People Are Looking for in Smoothie Bowls

Before going deeper into the topic of choosing the right bowls for smoothies, let’s talk about why people love going to smoothie bars instead of making their own at home. That way, you can fully understand what people are looking for in smoothie bowls, how to address their needs, and what the best kind of serving bowl will benefit your smoothie business.

A. Convenience

Convenience is perhaps the most obvious reason why customers continue to be loyal patrons of smoothie bars. Restaurants serving smoothie bowls make it easy for customers on the go or in a rush to have an instant breakfast to enjoy before they start the day. Moreover, smoothie bowls can serve as a form of comfort food and a cool reprieve after a long, stressful day. 

When restaurants serve smoothie bowls, people don’t have to go through the hassle of making one for themselves, especially if they don’t have the time to do so. The key takeaway from this is that smoothie customers are looking for a convenient haven to start or end the day or just to spend their leisure time in. With the right choice of bowls, smoothie restaurant owners can create that relaxing haven for customers.

B. Wide Array of Options

Another reason why customers regularly visit smoothie restaurants is the wide range of toppings and ingredients they offer. Instead of stocking up on their own ingredients and risking spoilage, people choose the more prudent option of getting smoothie bowls from restaurants and simply picking the ingredients that suit their moods and cravings for the day. With a variety of ingredients to choose from, they can have a fun, customized smoothie experience that’ll fully satisfy their needs. Customers thus expect smoothie bars to have an assortment of toppings and bases or, at the least, their favorite ingredients.

Since smoothie customers have varied preferences, getting the best bowls can complement the different tastes of different customers. The right bowls can go perfectly well with and adapt to any colors or toppings of various smoothie recipes. Also, bowls of the right sizes can accommodate the overflowing ingredients of smoothies.

C. Aesthetics

In today’s digital age when people share virtually every day of their lives to their followers, restaurants are gearing toward creating aesthetically pleasing food and dining spaces. Smoothie restaurants, in particular, already have that factor worked out. 

There’s one thing that most smoothie customers want, and it’s how artfully their creamy desserts are presented. Smoothie bowls are already visually pleasing by themselves. For this very reason, restaurants should step up their game to make themselves visible in the competitive smoothies market. 

Choosing unique bowls can help with that as customers will take it upon themselves to build your restaurant’s social media presence. If your smoothies and their bowls look creative enough to be considered “Insta-worthy,” customers won’t hesitate to take photos of them and post them on social media. With the right bowls, attracting people online will be a breeze.

3. Things to Consider When Choosing Bowls for Smoothies

While smoothie bowls have already won the hearts of members in the healthy food community, these people can be further bowled over by the right serving bowls. When it comes to selecting the right bowls for smoothies, it all boils down to optimizing dining experience and improving brand visibility. If you’re just starting a smoothie bar business or if you’re thinking of switching to better bowls, then read on and find out how to choose the best bowls for smoothies.

A. Sizes

Most smoothie restaurants opt for large bowls in which to serve their smoothies—and for good reason. With huge bowls, there’s plenty of room for more base and extra toppings, and customers love to go for a variety of toppings on their smoothies. Plus, bowls with wide diameters can fully showcase the vibrant colors of smoothies, making them more presentable and creative.

However, getting large bowls only might not be a good idea. Some people might simply want to try out and explore new flavors, while others might not be that hungry for huge amounts of smoothies. So apart from offering a variety of smoothie flavors and toppings, you might want to consider incorporating different smoothie bowl sizes in your menu. In addition to jumbo bowls, try offering other sizes of smoothie bowls, such as small and regular. Small smoothie bowls might even appeal to kids and other people who would like to taste different smoothie flavors.

B. Durability

As with all purchasing decisions, durability and longevity are two essential factors in buying bowls for your restaurant. It’s a good thing that commercial bowls are built to be wear-resistant and to survive daily use in busy restaurants. Because of this, however, bowls made for commercial use are typically more expensive than those designed for use in home kitchens. 

While commercial bowls tend to be more pricey, they aren’t immune to breaking or cracking in case they fall down. Thick glass commercial bowls, for instance, can shatter or, at least, crack from impact. The same goes for ceramic and porcelain bowls. Plastic bowls, on the other hand, can survive impact, but they aren’t the most stylish bowls for smoothies. Perhaps the best choice of bowls is one that’s made from a bump-resistant coconut shell, but let’s go into that later.

C. Ambiance

Almost all restaurant-goers are influenced by one major factor that defines a restaurant: ambiance. That isn’t to say the taste of the food itself isn’t the thing that attracts customers. Yes, the quality of food can have a lasting impact on every customer, but it might not stand out as much if it’s served in a dingy restaurant. 

The number of smoothie restaurants is rapidly growing, and in order to keep up with the pace, your restaurant should have a distinctive ambiance that not every smoothie restaurant has. So here’s a tip: why not create a tropical ambiance for your smoothie bar using tropical-style bowls? One might argue that it’s a cliche idea, but let’s admit, it works. Smoothies are often comprised of tropical fruits, and they are ubiquitous in tropical countries. Plus, the first-ever smoothies originated from tropical regions. Given this, won’t smoothies look better when served in tropical-style bowls, like coconut bowls? When a smoothie restaurant offers that kind of ambiance, there’s no doubt that customers will enjoy their dining experience as if they’re on a relaxing summer getaway to the tropics.

D. Design

As was mentioned before, having a tropical-style smoothie restaurant might be unoriginal, but it’s a pretty attractive idea to smoothie enthusiasts. That said, there’s one thing that can make a tropical-themed restaurant stand out, and it’s getting coconut bowls with unique designs. 

If you’re not into that whole idea of incorporating the tropics into your restaurant’s interiors, using unique bowls can still be a great option. Since the overall theme of smoothie bowls is their vibrancy, tableware that complements that theme can go a long way. For instance, serving smoothies in coconut bowls with different hand-carved patterns can definitely make your dishes stand out. If you’d like simpler yet unique bowls, there are also polished coconut bowls with rich brown surfaces and bowls sporting the raw outer texture of natural coconuts. 

The bottom line is that as long as the design of your bowls reflects your restaurant’s theme, then you’re most likely making a lasting impression on customers.

E. Brand

Establishing a brand doesn’t only entail creating an unforgettable experience or a distinctive ambiance; it also requires having a set of business goals and philosophies. That doesn’t mean you’ll just draw up your mission statement and forget about it over time. Rather, it means utilizing the best company practices and choosing the right bowls and other products that reflect those goals and philosophies. That way, your customers can have another good reason to keep coming back to your restaurant.

If you’d like to promote a healthy vegan lifestyle through your smoothie bowls, you might want to consider choosing bowls that are made without harming the environment. Or if you’re more inclined to have an eco-friendly brand, you might want to have coconut bowls that are handcrafted from reclaimed coconut shells. You might also want to opt for a company that aims to replant rainforests or other environmental goals by selling coconut bowls. 

Strengthening your brand’s identity can also appeal to your target market. In the smoothie business, the target market is often comprised of people from all walks of life. Be that as it may, promoting how your brand benefits the community and the environment can definitely attract more and more people, regardless of their backgrounds.

F. Material

Having read “coconut bowls” over and over, you might now be thinking to yourself, “But what about other kinds of bowls?”

Well, first, there are ceramic bowls. They come with different hand-painted designs and offer a rustic look. They also tend to be inexpensive. The problem with these bowls is that they are prone to chipping, and they aren’t as durable as other types of bowls.

Another type of bowl is porcelain, which is also considered a ceramic material. Compared to regular ceramic bowls, what makes porcelain different is that it’s made by exposing clay to high temperatures. Another thing that makes porcelain different is that it features a classy look and is a lot more expensive. If you’re eyeing breakable porcelain bowls, then you might be better off getting ceramic bowls instead.

The third option is plastic. Now, plastic bowls are cheap and shatter-resistant. They come in various colors and styles too. But apart from being harmful to the environment, plastic bowls are cheap and look cheap—it’s the hard truth. They might not complement the colorful smoothie bowls you’re serving to customers. Plus, environmental responsibility will be an essential factor that can influence most of your customers’ purchasing decisions, and plastic bowls can’t reflect that factor at all.

Glass is another option, and like ceramic bowls, glass bowls are also breakable. These bowls offer a versatile yet classy design. While they aren’t prone to shattering, they seem like a good option for smoothie bowls. However, glass bowls tend to be sensitive to extreme heat and cold, and smoothies are often served cold.

Bowls made from coconut shells are arguably the best bowls for smoothie restaurants. Coconut shells are known for their durable properties. In fact, some construction companies use coconut shells as filler materials or aggregates for building structures. This goes to show that coconut bowls are durable and bump-resistant. Because they’re biodegradable and made from reclaimed shells, you’re also doing the environment a huge favor when you opt for coconut bowls. And because they’re made from the all-natural shells of coconut fruits, coconut bowls go hand in hand with all-natural fruit smoothies.

G. Budget

An essential factor that no one loves to talk about but is inevitable in any buying decision: budget. Since commercial bowls are built to be durable enough to withstand daily restaurant use, they can get a bit too expensive. While it’s more prudent to buy durable bowls now, that doesn’t mean you have to shell out too much cash. Remember that you have a long list of expenses when running a business. 

Buying bowls in bulk, for instance, can be a huge money-saver. Also, at this point, you might want to have already chosen the material of your bowls. China, porcelain, and glass can be classy yet expensive and fragile, while plastic bowls are cheap but not as stylish as other bowls. Coconut bowls, on the other hand, are stylish, durable, and affordable to boot. But no matter which bowls you choose, they are definitely worth the investment as long as they are long-lasting and complement your restaurant’s theme. 

4. Why More and More Smoothie Restaurants Are Making a Switch to Coconut Bowls 

More and more smoothie bars and restaurants are growing fond of the idea of coconut bowls and are beginning to love serving smoothies in these bowls. This is because coconut bowls check all of the factors mentioned above. They come in different sizes, offer an unforgettable and fun tropical experience, and complement all-natural smoothies. Plus, coconut bowls and their unique markings can make smoothies stand out in the competitive smoothies market.

At Rainforest Bowls, you can find a wide range of Original Coconut Bowls, Raw Coconut Bowls, and Art Coconut Bowls. They come in small, medium, regular, and jumbo sizes, and they’re guaranteed to be 100% natural and food-safe. Apart from this, you can get Wooden Spoons, Wooden Utensils, and even Wholesale Wooden Utensils crafted from coconut timber, making them the perfect pieces of cutlery to pair with coconut bowls. Another reason why more and more smoothie restaurants are making a switch to our bowls? Our wholesale discounts. With Rainforest Bowls, you can help create a livable world filled with eco-friendly options—all while having unique bowls that are ideal for serving smoothies in restaurants.

References:

1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11408845/Foods-next-big-trend-The-smoothie-bowl.html 
2. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-to-buy-resturant-dishes-2888802

Author Profile

A mother of succulents, various indoor plants, and a white mini Chewbacca, Diet Immarie Salazar simply adores living closer to nature—literally. In her home nestled in the mountains, she frequently writes about how and why people should enjoy a more natural and eco-friendly lifestyle.